Forbidden Love (ON HIATUS! SORRY!)
by Kittyaceres
Summary: Percy is the prince of Apaisios, next to the sea. Annabeth is princess of the eastern kingdom, even though with her mother in charge, it's actually a queendom. Never expecting to meet again after the first accidental meeting, their passive parents try to force peace between Athena and Poseidon, but during a banquet, Poseidon ruins it. (Continued inside) AU
1. No Marriage

Summary: Percy is the prince of the western kingdom, next to the sea. Annabeth is princess of the western kingdom, even though with her mother in charge, it's actually a queendom. Never expecting to meet again after the first accidental meeting, their passive parents try to force peace through Athena and Poseidon, but during a banquet, Poseidon ruins it. How will Percy and Annabeth see each other now? Will they? R&R Please.

* * *

Princess Annabeth looked out at the nearby castle of the Poseidon kingdom, which her kingdom (queendom, actually) was at war with. The war had started when she was a tot, and no one would explain to her why it was.

Annabeth groaned in frustration. What's the point in fighting a war when you have no idea what you're fighting for!

Malcolm, the nearest servant, approached. "Princess, is there something wrong?"

"No, Malcolm. I'm absolutely fine," Annabeth answered.

Malcolm bowed and retreated. "Wait," Annabeth called.

Malcolm came back. "Yes, Princess?"

"Do you know how the war started? We've been at war with the Western kingdom for as long as I can remember! Why?"

"I apologize, I do not. I was young at the beginning. I believe it had something to do with…land?" Malcolm guessed.

"It is alright Malcolm. Well, I'll be in the library if anyone needs me," Annabeth said. She walked to the library and started to read. Her mother, the queen, Queen Athena, would not have approved of the book she was reading: fairy-tales.

Annabeth envied the princesses in the stories. They found true love at first sight! Whenever Queen Athena would set up Annabeth with dukes, dukes' sons, earls, earls' sons, barons, barons' sons, knights or anyone else of nobility, they wouldn't get along well.

Annabeth quickly sat on the book she was reading when she heard the door open. It was only Piper, the servant who best kept secrets.

"Princess!" Piper curtsied. She had shut the door behind her and they hugged.

"Piper! Hey!" Annabeth greeted.

"Hey, Annabeth. Were you reading fairy tales again?" Piper asked teasingly.

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"Dreaming of 'your one true love'?" Piper teased in a dreamy tone.

Annabeth lightly whacked Piper with the book. She would never strike a servant hard, even if he or she deserved it. She didn't believe in that sort of punishment. But when it was Piper and they were alone, she treated Piper as an equal.

Piper pulled the book from Annabeth's hands and started to chase her around with it. The game didn't last long, for fear that Queen Athena would come in.

"Where'd you get this?" Piper asked breathily. Annabeth pointed vaguely. "Quite precise, Annabeth, let me put this away for you!" Piper said sarcastically.

"If my directions don't please you, gimme the book and I'll put it away!" Annabeth said. Piper tossed Annabeth the book to put away.

"So what did you want?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, Mistress Bennett asked me to summon you for your weaving lesson, not that you need it," Piper answered.

Since they were in the hallway, Annabeth had to reprimand her, even though she agreed. "Bite your tongue; if Miss Bennett thinks I must improve, I'm sure there's room for improvement."

Annabeth winked at Piper. Piper giggled and said her goodbyes. Annabeth went back to the tapestry that she was working on for her room. Mistress Bennett hovered over her shoulder and chastised her for every little mistake, even if Annabeth had done it on purpose.

"This isn't for Mother!" Annabeth complained under her breath.

"What was that?" Mistress Bennett's sharp voice barked.

"Nothing," Annabeth replied pseudo-innocently.

"Yeah it better had been nothing," Miss Bennett muttered.

Later, in her bedchamber, while Piper was brushing Annabeth's hair, Annabeth asked the question that had been nipping at her all day. "Piper, do you know why we're in this war?"

"We're at war?" Piper joked. Annabeth turned and showed how serious her face was. Piper bit back her laughter and replied, "I have no clue, and there's no gossip in the staff for me to listen on. Why, I'd say the only people who know are your parents…or maybe Bella," Piper said. Bella was Annabeth's old nanny, who worked as head cook now.

"Gee, I haven't talked to Bella in years!"

"Do you think she ever misses you?" Piper asked.

Annabeth reminisced being chased around the castle not wanting to change for bed. "No," she laughed. "OW!" she yelled as Piper brushed through a knot.

"Sorry," Piper apologized.

"No, really, forgive me. I know that you must brush through the tangles. I'll try not to complain so loudly next time," Annabeth said, eyeing the door. Incase anyone had been eavesdropping and wanted to come in to fawn over her.

"So, about your problem—"

"Piper!"

"Sorry, 'thirst for knowledge…'" Piper trailed off, knowing Annabeth would fill the gap.

"I don't know, maybe I'll talk to Dad. Him, I can worm knowledge out, but do you really think he'd tell me something like that?" Annabeth mused.

Piper stopped brushing Annabeth's hair, knowing what she was thinking. "Annabeth, no! No!"

"Come on! Where's your sense of adventure?" Annabeth demanded.

"Annabeth, if your parents found out that you'd escaped the castle, they'd come after me and—" Piper dragged her finger across her throat.

"Piper, please!" Annabeth begged.

"Annabeth, your parents don't let you out of the castle for a reason! It's dangerous out there! I would know," Piper said.

"Have you ever _actually_ gotten into trouble out there?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, no…" Annabeth jumped up on the bed. Piper had to think of a way to keep Annabeth from disobeying her parents. "But I'm not the princess of a kingdom at war with a neighboring kingdom," Piper said.

Annabeth let out a puff of air. "Come on!"

"Annabeth, at least ask your dad first. You never know; your parents might tell you the whole secret behind the war, and you won't have to go out and ask the veterans of the war," Piper said.

"Okay, do you know where the nearest veteran lives?" Annabeth asked. Piper gave her a steely look. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go talk to dad!"

Annabeth checked first her parents' bedchamber. Empty. Well, it was the middle of the day. Then she checked the throne room. Also empty. Annabeth approached the war room, the door to which was firmly closed. They must be in a meeting.

Annabeth was about to sit down outside the door when she heard her mother bellow, "I WILL NOT HAVE MY PERFECT DAUGHTER MARRIED TO SOME IDIOT POSIEDON SPAWN!"

Annabeth's jaw dropped in shock. Wait, someone had suggested an arranged marriage, probably to the prince of the Western kingdom.

"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!" Queen Athena screamed.


	2. Untrustworthy

**This one's a bit shorter, but let me just say, SIX FOLLOWS AND TWO FAVORITES? For the first chapter? That's an all-time best for me! *throws party* **

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Western kingdom, Prince Perseus (known as Percy) prepared for jousting with his friend, Grover.

"Oh, heck no! I'm not riding Buttercup!" Grover complained.

Buttercup was the newest horse. She had recently been broken but had a habit of running away and was frisky.

"All the other horses are off for the war! I need training before my eighteenth birthday when I'm allowed to leave as well!" Percy explained from up on his steed, Blackjack.

"I've got an idea! You ride Buttercup and I'll ride Blackjack!" Grover suggested.

"If you insist," Percy said unhappily, switching places with Grover.

They set up to joust, but Buttercup had other ideas. "Ack!" Percy said, pulling on the reins of the horse. She kept on going, toward the eastern kingdom. Percy hopped off the horse and started chasing it down. Sadly, it went near the back castle of the second kingdom. Percy chased after Buttercup on Blackjack trying to rope her, but he ended up roping the wrong "her."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Miss," Percy said.

The girl laughed her head off. She had curly blonde hair and was wearing an extravagant dress. "It's alright, as long as it was an accident. It was, right?" Percy nodded. "There you go. Nice aim, by the way."

Percy took his helmet off and untied the girl. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Yes, what _are _you doing out here? If your mother finds out, she'll explode! Especially if she finds out that some barbarian lassoed you," another female with caramel hair that looked like it was cut with safety scissors. Her clothes gave the impression that she was a servant. Maybe a noble's daughter and her lady-in-waiting?

"Relax, Piper, it was just an accident," the first girl said.

"Barbarian? I'm no barbarian!" Percy said. Piper looked him up and down and crossed her arms.

"You're a knight from the other army. You could kidnap Annabeth. Where's the rest of the army, huh? Lurking around?" Piper said.

"That's a good point. What's your name, soldier? What squadron are you from?" Annabeth asked, pulling a knife from her stocking.

"I'm not from the army. I was trying to retrieve my steed," Percy said.

Annabeth copied Piper in crossing her arms.

"Do you not believe me?" Percy asked.

"How can I believe a untrustworthy-looking man whose name I don't even know?" Annabeth asked.

Percy bowed. "I am Percy. I'm guessing your name is Annabeth?"

Annabeth curtsied. "Yes. You know of me, I gather?"

"Uh, no. The only people of this kingdom I know of are the Queen and King," Percy said in a distasteful tone.

"You do not approve of them?" Annabeth asked with an angry look on her face.

"Well, it's just if your queen wasn't so stubborn and grouchy we would not be in this war and our kingdoms would be prospering," Percy said. He was surprised to see that Annabeth was smirking while he was insulting her royalty instead of, who knows, punching the crap out of him?

"You're correct, you know," she said. "She is awful."

"Annabeth, bite your tongue!" Piper chastised.

"I am sorry, I should not have said that," Annabeth looked down. She looked up at Percy and winked. Who was this girl to talk out about her royalty this way? She was intriguing.

Percy was about to ask how she had the courage when suddenly he heard "WHO-WHOO" come out of the castle. "Was that an owl?" Percy asked.

"Uh-oh! Gotta go!" Annabeth said. "It was nice meeting you."

Percy caught her arm and kissed her hand before letting her go run off. "Until next time," he called. Annabeth blushed as she looked back, being dragged away by Piper.

"Oh, you have _so_ much explaining to do," Piper warned. "Hurry up! Your mother will find out!"

Percy waited until they had left his sight before he put his helmet back on and climbed up on Blackjack to track down the runaway mare. He caught her trying to steal some apples from a farmer.

Percy apologized for what almost happened and dragged Buttercup home.

"You were over there for quite some time," Grover said.

"It took a while to track down Buttercup," Percy said, which was true.

"Did you meet any locals?" Grover asked.

"Just an interesting girl who I accidentally lassoed and an apple farmer whose apples Buttercup was trying to eat. Naughty, naughty," Percy cooed at Buttercup at her stall.

"So, about this _girl,_" Grover said. "What made her interesting?"

"She looked like a princess but didn't act like one," Percy said.

"She was cute?" Grover interrogated.

"Gorgeous," Percy gasped. "Why do you care? Aren't you dating Juniper?"

"Well, yeah, but I think you may have just found a girlfriend," Grover sang.

"We only talked," Percy said.

"Uh-huh. I saw you kissing her hand," Grover teased.

"I was being gentlemanly!" Percy shot back.

"You're never gentlemanly to Rachel!" Grover said.

"Yeah, but that's because unless I find someone I actually like, I'm gonna end up married to her anyway," Percy said.

"So you like the girl you met?" Grover asked.

"No!"

"Then why were you being gentlemanly?" Grover teased.

"I'm done talking to you," Percy said, going away.

* * *

**R&R, please!**


	3. Lassoing

**Man, Fanfiction's spell check is so weird... Apparently, "knight" is incorrect the way I used it. Yeah, no. Never write in spellcheck on this. The entire sentence is underlined in red. What silliness.**

* * *

Annabeth ran around a corner, so whoever her mother had kicked out wouldn't know she had been eavesdropping. She took the shortcut back to her room and was about to gossip to Piper, who lingered in her room, when her father opened the door.

"Just the man you wanted to talk to," Piper said, retreating to the corner.

"You may leave," King Frederick said, nodding towards the door. Piper curtsied and left the bedchamber.

"Hi, Dad," Annabeth said shyly.

"Your mother's mad at me," King Fredrick said sheepishly. Annabeth returned his smile.

"Why?" she asked, pretending not to have been eavesdropping.

"I'm sure you heard. I'm sure King Poseidon heard your mother's screech," King Frederick said. Annabeth shook her head innocently.

"I heard yelling," she offered. "I couldn't discern any words, though."

"Well, this war has been going on too long, in my opinion," King Frederick said.

"It's been going on so long, I don't even remember when it started," Annabeth agreed. "Why did it start, anyway?"

"Old grudges between your mother and King Poseidon. He wanted to raise the price on something because of inflation and she blew up over it. Gave him…I don't know how long to lower the price, and because he didn't she refused to trade with him at all. Got her fish and salt and stuff like that from other far off kingdom," King Frederick recalled.

"Seriously?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, like I said, they've had old grudges against each other for a long time. You want to hear the most ironic part?"

"What?"

"The new kingdom that your mother gets her fish from charges twice as much as the inflated prices next door," King Frederick said.

"Wow," Annabeth said, impressed with her mother's stubbornness.

"Yeah, sometimes I despise your mother's judgment," Frederick said.

"Dad, can I go outside the castle?" Annabeth asked quickly.

"Of course. You're always allowed outside," her father said.

"No, I mean outside the stone fence," Annabeth clarified.

"Annabeth, your mother—"

"Dad, please! I'm almost eighteen!" Annabeth begged.

"I thought you turned seventeen two months ago," Frederick said.

"Yeah, but in ten months I'll be eighteen," Annabeth said.

"I thought we stopped playing this game when you were ten," Frederick said.

"Please, please can I go?" Annabeth begged.

Frederick's warm brown eyes stared into Annabeth's grey ones. Annabeth gave him puppy dog eyes. "FINE!" Frederick collapsed. "But I want you to take something to protect yourself," he said.

"I'll carry a knife in my stocking. Thanks dad!" Annabeth said.

"Wait, I'll hoot to you if you need to be back. Don't go _too_ far, okay?" Frederick asked.

"Of course, daddy," Annabeth rushed down to the armory to get a knife and then she hopped the wall and started to explore.

It wasn't long before a tan horse with a dark nose and dark hooves almost trampled her. Annabeth rushed out of the way as a knight on a black stallion tried to rope the runaway horse, but ended up lassoing her!

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Miss!" the strange knight said with true regret in his voice.

Seeing this as a green light, Annabeth started laughing. "It's alright, as long as it was an accident. It was, right?" The knight nodded vigorously. "There you go! Nice aim, by the way," Annabeth laughed.

The knight took off his helmet and untied Annabeth. He had black hair and sea green eyes. Wow. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" he asked. It did seem like the middle of nowhere.

"Yes, what _are _you doing out here? If your mother finds out, she'll explode! Especially if she finds out that some barbarian lassoed you," Piper chastised. Where did she come from?!

"Relax, Piper, it was just an accident!" Annabeth reassured her.

The knight's jaw dropped. "Barbarian?! I'm no barbarian!" he complained. Piper looked him up and down and crossed her arms.

"You're a knight from the other army. You could kidnap Annabeth! Where's the rest of the army, huh? Lurking around?" Piper asked. That was a good point.

"That's a good point. What's your name, soldier? What squadron are you from?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm not from the army. I was trying to retrieve my steed," the knight said. Annabeth wanted to believe him, but she didn't even know his name. She crossed her arms. "Do you not believe me?" the knight asked.

"How can I believe an untrustworthy-looking man whose name I don't even know?" Annabeth asked.

The knight bowed. "I am Percy. I'm guessing your name is Annabeth?"

Annabeth assumed he had heard Piper address her by name. But still, she asked, "Yes, you know of me, I gather?"

"Uh, no. The only people I know of in this kingdom are the king and queen," Percy said in a distasteful tone.

"You do not approve of them?" Annabeth was a little upset that this stranger came out of nowhere and insulted her parents without reason.

"Well, it's just if your queen wasn't so stubborn and grouchy we would not be in this war and our kingdoms would be prospering," Percy said. Annabeth smiled. Oh, well that makes sense.

"You're correct you know," she said.

Piper, who had been acting like a servant (for the first time it seemed) gasped. "Bite your tongue!"

Annabeth looked down in mock shame. "I am sorry, I should not have said that." She looked up at Percy and winked.

Suddenly, her father's signal came. So soon?! "Was that an owl?" Percy asked.

Annabeth looked toward the castle gate. "Uh-oh! Gotta go. It was nice meeting you," she said.

Percy grabbed her arm and kissed her hand. "Until the next time," he said, even though they both knew they wouldn't meet each other ever again.

"Oh, you have _so _much explaining to do," Piper said pushing her back into the castle. "Hurry, before your mother finds out!"


	4. Frisky

**Hello people of earth. If you have ever my brother , he must have tried to convince you that I am an alien. I am not. If you have met me, you must also have been convinced I am an alien. I am not. (P.S. don't spread the word. If the Illuminati finds out about me, I'll be dead meat.) Anyway, it was my initial plan to update every Friday. Then I realized, that "Friday" does not mean "day" for you humans-er, people. Forget I said that. But now that I have learned the day system of Earth...well, 'Murica, I will be posting every single Friday.**

**(LOL, I'm not an alien. I know the days quite well, that was just my entertaining way of telling you that from now on I will try to post something every Friday. Except, I'm enjoying summer break, and have lost track of the days. Like, on Wednesday, I thought it was Tuesday. Oops. Yeah, and this morning I thought it was Saturday. *facepalm* [And also, as a proud American {no matter what my profile may say} writing, 'Murica, killed me. *cringes so hard I break my spine and have to go to hospital JK* I don't like that word! Just stop being lazy about this and say America! Not 'Murica. *vomits*])**

* * *

After a couple of days, Grover stopped badgering Percy about the mystery girl. Coincidentally, that was also the day Queen Sally started writing letters to a mysterious stranger.

"Who are you writing to?" Percy asked.

"You'll find out," Sally replied. King Poseidon growled.

"Dad, are you angry?" Percy asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Sally you're making a big mistake! That woman is devil-spawn who's headstrong and untrustable!" King Poseidon yelled.

"Like you?" Queen Sally said with a small smile. Percy decided that this was not the best time to be in the room, and quickly left for town.

He went to the blacksmith's where his friend Leo worked. "Hello, your highness. What brings you here?" Leo asked, bowing.

"My father is angry at my mother for writing to someone," Percy said. "I thought it was best not to be in the castle at the time."

"Was this person the queen was writing to male?" Leo asked.

"I don't think so. Dad said that 'that woman' is evil, headstrong, and untrustable," Percy said.

Leo banged on a sword. "Interesting."

"I know. Who's the sword for? I mean, I'm just curious," Percy asked.

"It's for the new doctor/swords play master," Leo said.

"What's his name?"

"Chiron," Leo replied.

"Hello, Leo," a man in a wheelchair said, coming in.

"Hi, Chiron! This is the prince," Leo said. "Percy, this is Chiron."

"Nice to meet you Chiron," Percy said. Chiron bowed and Percy bowed back, to be polite.

"So, Chiron, you're early! I wasn't expecting you until later, otherwise I'd have your sword ready," Leo said.

"Oh, no, I just wanted to watch you work. I like to see the care that goes into the craftsmanship of my weapons," Chiron said. Leo paused hesitantly, and then began working again.

Chiron and Percy talked a while. Chiron told Percy that he was going to be working for the king. Percy told about his life for the past few days and realized that his tone was a bit admiring as he talked about the mysterious girl, Annabeth, when Leo wolf-whistled. Percy hoped he wasn't red as he demanded to know why Leo had wolf-whistled.

"Dude, you've got a crush on this foreign lady, don't you?" Leo asked, widening his impossibly wide smile.

"What makes you think that?" Percy demanded.

"Oh, just the way you're describing her like she's a goddess," Leo said.

Percy went back home.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the eastern kingdom, the next day, King Frederick received a letter. Annabeth saw it was from someone in the western kingdom, but her father wouldn't tell her whom.

It went on like this for a couple of weeks. Neither Percy nor Annabeth knew who their parents were writing to, but all they knew it was making their father (in Percy's case) and mother (in Annabeth's case) extremely irritated.

Finally, Queen Sally was able to convince the King and King Fredrick was able to convince the Queen to get along with each other for two days while they examined the effects of the war in each other's kingdom.

Finally, after weeks of asking, Percy finally found out whom his mother had been writing to. He also understood why his father was quite angry.

His jaw dropped to the floor when he heard this, "So, to possibly create peace between our kingdoms, I have invited the royal family over: Queen Athena, King Frederick, and their daughter, Annabeth." No, not because the royal family was coming, but because Annabeth was a PRINCESS!

Likewise, King Frederick was telling this to Annabeth as her mother sulked off to the side. "And to create peace, we are going over to the warring kingdom for a ball, and then they are going to do the same here. The royal family is King Poseidon—"

Queen Athena growled at the name.

"—Queen Sally—"

Queen Athena growled louder, strangely.

"—and their son, Perseus," King Frederick finished.

_Why does that name sound familiar?_ Annabeth thought. "Sounds incredibly fun…can Piper come?"

"Er, Princess, I don't—" Piper began.

"If you insist. Besides, she is handy with a knife and I don't trust Poseidon or his stupid family," Athena interrupted. Annabeth snickered silently, remembering what Athena had screeched a few weeks prior, probably when her father had suggested an arranged marriage to Perseus. Ew.

"Really?! I can come?!" Piper asked.

"Yes," Athena said.

Frederick sighed. "Yes, I guess you can come. We are to leave tomorrow," he said.

* * *

Percy watched as the carriage arrived, a feeling of nervousness, excitement, and dread settling in his stomach.

A servant, Jason, knocked at his door, notifying him that it was time to go to the great hall to greet his guests.

Percy had forgotten about getting dressed and so he was buttoning his coat and tying his tie on the way down to the great hall. Queen Sally shot him a scolding look as the other royal family approached.

Percy smiled at them, smiling from amusement as Annabeth's eyes grew wide.

"You—Ow!" she complained as the girl Percy remembered was named Piper elbowed her hard.

Piper saw Jason, who seemed a little red himself, and blushed. Meanwhile, the monarchs were introducing themselves and their children.

Annabeth mouthed at Percy, _You're a prince?_

Percy smirked and mouthed back, _Likewise._

A little while later, it was time for the ball. Annabeth was feeling discluded. She was glad she had planned for this, remembering that if she could find the stables, she could take the dress off, button up her thin coat and ride around for fun. She was wearing a thin coat and riding pants under her poofy dress.

Down on the dance floor, Percy was waiting for Annabeth to come over so he could dance with her without their parents screaming at them.

Finally when Annabeth did get up, she disappeared through the door. Percy realized she was going to try to run away, so he followed her, all the way (though Annabeth did get a little lost) to the stables.

She didn't know he had followed her, otherwise, she probably wouldn't have pulled off her dress, revealing a riding outfit. Thank the gods she didn't completely strip, Percy thought.

Annabeth pulled Buttercup from her stall. Time to make myself known, Percy thought. "I'd be careful if I were you. That one is frisky and likes to run away…like you," Percy said.

Annabeth flinched and scared Buttercup back into her stall. Percy laughed. "What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked.

"What are _you_ doing here? I just came to make sure you didn't get lost," Percy replied.

Annabeth exhaled, probably letting go of her breath. "The ball…was lame," she said.

"You'd say that. You were just sitting off to the side by yourself! I was waiting for you to come onto the dance floor where I could ask you to dance and our parents wouldn't see, nor would they flip out and scream at each other," Percy said.

Annabeth opened her mouth in shock. "R-really?"

"Of course. Now put your dress back on and let's go back before anyone notices we're gone," Percy said.

She made him turn away as she put the dress back on. Percy put his arm out like a gentleman, but Annabeth put it around her.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the dance, _someone_ noticed that Annabeth was gone. Luckily, that _someone_ was Piper. Piper combed the castle for Annabeth, bumping into a man in a black shawl. "Sorry, excuse me!" she said.

She finally found Annabeth….with Percy. And they were about to kiss. Piper gasped, interrupting the moment.

Annabeth and Percy jumped apart, embarrassed.

"What are you two doing?" Piper asked.

* * *

Percy cleared his throat. "I caught Annabeth sneaking out and fetched her," he answered. Piper didn't look convinced. Well, that probably _didn't_ sound convincing, considering what she had walked in on.

"Piper, it's the truth!" Annabeth complained.

Piper squinted at Annabeth and sighed. "I believe _you_. Come on, let's go."

Piper turned around and didn't realize that Percy stopped Annabeth to whisper in her ear, "Meet me by the fountain in the courtyard once everyone's gone to bed."

Annabeth smiled and nodded, then caught up with Piper, to make it seem like nothing was going on.

* * *

**There, a nice long chapter for you. Enjoy it. *laughs maniaclly* What? Why do _you_ think I switched to updating weekly? Pop-quiz time!**

**What is the definition of...foreshadowing?**

**What is the definition of...cliffhanger?**

**What is the definition of...cruelty? (**weekly updating! XD)

Bye!


	5. Stranger

**As promised, an update. And, just to clear up the confusion:**

**Her: Annabeth**

**Him: Surprise!**

**The/This Girl: Piper**

_She slipped out. Now was his chance. He counted the gold in his hand and returned it back to his pocket. Usually he required it all in advance, but this _was _the king. Maybe not of his kingdom, but kings are kings: arrogant. (in his experience…)Once the job was finished, he would get the rest of the gold and run. As per usual._

_Going out a different door, he dawned the cloak that held the secrets to his success. He ran up a flight of stairs and followed her from above, only letting her out of his sight for the two foot gap between windows._

_Shoot! She slipped away. He waited for her to return out of the door, when the prince entered the door. Perseus was following too? Now he was really glad he had shadowed her from above._

_Bwam! Another girl bumped into him. Stupid girl._

_"Sorry, excuse me!" she said. He groaned. This girl was going to make things hard for him. First Perseus and now this girl? No way was this job going to be easy. No doubt was this girl a servant of hers. _

It can always be done while everyone's asleep,_ he reminded himself. _Yes, even though it will be less fun. And the king will not want it postponed._ He sighed. _Why can't she go anywhere alone?_ He wandered down to the ground floor, preparing to slip back into the dance._

_Suddenly, he heard the clumsy girl who had bumped into him earlier speak. "I believe _you. _Come on, let's go." He watched as she walked off while the other two stayed back to whisper to each other._

_He prepared his eavesdropping horn as Perseus whispered to her. "Meet me by the fountain in the courtyard once everyone's gone to bed."_

_He waited until Perseus was out of earshot. _

"Sure, Perseus. I'll meet you there," Octavian said, laughing loudly.

* * *

**I'd apologize, but we'd all know I was lying through my teeth, so... see you next week!**

**This chapter was actually the reason I decided to post this story too...**


	6. Moonlit Walks

**He-he, almost forgot to update. What? Don't blame me! I have a lot on my mind! School starts on Monday for me and I have no idea where half the classrooms are!**

* * *

Annabeth faked falling asleep. Piper didn't snore, so Annabeth couldn't know when she had fallen asleep. Piper had stopped tossing and turning, so Annabeth assumed she was asleep. She got up silently and snuck out the door.

As she walked through the halls, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. Oh well, must be the unfamiliar castle at night getting to her head. Finally, she saw him. She rushed over to Percy, who hugged her.

"Hi, Annabeth," Percy said.

Annabeth looked up at the starry sky. "Wow. It looks so different," she muttered.

"Aren't they the same stars?" Percy asked.

"Well, yes. And I know that I'm not very far from where I usually star gaze, but…wow," she said. They sat down on the edge of the fountain, which gurgled peacefully.

They sat there for a while when suddenly Annabeth stood up quickly.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

Annabeth stared down the hallway. "I thought I saw someone," she said, alarmed.

Percy walked down the hallway and looked around. "There's—" he shouted before realizing he didn't want to wake the entire castle. He walked back to Annabeth. "There's no one here," he whispered.

Annabeth looked around. "I don't know, I swear I saw someone," she said.

Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand. "Come on. Let's take a walk. Tell me about your kingdom. What are the people like?" he asked, walking with her.

Annabeth didn't look at Percy, or at where she was going as she talked. She looked around to see if they were being followed, because she knew they were. "I don't know. I've never been outside the castle grounds. When I met you was my first and last outing. Piper says they're quite nice though."

"What?!"

"It's not _that_ surprising. Although, for some reason, if I go into town, the people will all turn into psycho killers who try to assassinate or rape people," Annabeth said.

"No, about the not being allowed out. You've never been into town? Why not?" Percy asked.

"I don't know. My mom's over-bearing. Strangely, at the same time, she doesn't seem to care about me enough. I don't really mind though," Annabeth said.

Percy heard the squeak of a wheelchair wheel. "Chiron's coming. Hide here," he said, pushing her into a dark nook.

"Oh, hello Prince," Chiron said. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Uh, yeah. Just taking a walk," Percy said.

Chiron smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Alone?"

"Yes," Percy said.

Chiron was unconvinced. "Well, goodnight, Percy. Good luck with your insomnia." With that, he wheeled away.

Annabeth came out of the nook, unaware that if she had lingered there for a moment longer, a pair of arms would have wrapped around her and snapped her neck or strangled her.

"He knows I'm here," Annabeth said.

"I know. He must have been the one lurking around. Why, though, one can't be sure…" Percy said. Annabeth smiled uneasily.

They walked and talked for a little longer and then stopped outside Annabeth's guest room. He cupped her face in his hands, and Annabeth's arms slipped around his waist.

They were about to kiss when Percy heard the unmistakable sound of a crossbow going off.

* * *

**Haha, another cliffhanger. Don't worry, I promise, it's the last one for at least one chapter. That's all I've written though, so don't say it's mean.**


	7. Captured

Percy pushed Annabeth to the ground. "What's your—Oh my gods!" Annabeth screamed.

An arrow had embedded itself in Percy's forearm, right next to his elbow. An "Ow!" escaped his lips

"Oh no, oh no!" They heard someone say. Annabeth got up and chased the voice, almost tripping over the two crossbows on the floor—one loaded, the other not. A man in a black cloak stole the tan horse and was riding off with it.

"Hello there, Miss," Chiron said.

"Chiron! Thank the gods! You're a doctor, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Percy's hurt, an arrow, right here," Annabeth said, tracing a circle on her arm.

"Get him, and bring him to my office in the castle," Chiron said. Annabeth nodded and flew up the stairs to where she had left Percy.

The adults were up. Piper and Jason stood next to Percy as Athena and Poseidon screamed at each other, blaming the other for hiring an assassin to kill their own child.

"Oh, yeah, well where's your 'perfect daughter'? Probably off getting rid of the evidence," Poseidon asked.

"Are you suggesting that I told my daughter to kill your son? Your son probably lured her here so the assassin _you_ hired could kill her," Athena shot back.

"If I had hired an assassin, which I didn't, why is _my son_ the one injured here while your daughter has disappeared?" Poseidon countered.

They were too busy arguing with each other to notice Annabeth reappear. "_The point_ is that Percy's injured! You're going to lose your son if you don't take him to a doctor!" Annabeth yelled at Poseidon in an "_idiot_" tone.

"Bad aim," Athena yelled at Poseidon as he led his son to Chiron. "Get dressed girls, we're leaving this instant," Athena said, disappearing into her room.

Once they were both dressed, Piper asked, "Annabeth, are you okay?"

"Thanks to Percy, yes," Annabeth replied.

"You were with Percy?" Piper asked.

"Yes," Annabeth replied.

"Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"If he kidnapped you, then yeah, it kind of matters!" Piper said. Annabeth frowned at Piper's silliness.

"He wouldn't have kidnapped me," Annabeth said.

"How do you know that?" Piper asked.

"He's not the kidnapping type," Annabeth replied.

"Don't you remember what happened the first time you met?" Piper asked.

"What happened the first time she met whom?" Athena asked in the doorway. Annabeth's and Piper's eyes widened in fear.

"Percy," Piper answered honestly. Don't worry, that's as far as the honesty stretched. "Earlier today, Percy was hitting on her," Piper said slowly.

"What?!" Athena gasped in shock.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Wow, Mom. A teenage boy my age flirted with me. Surprise!" she muttered under her breath. Thankfully, this didn't stop Athena from making them leave.

All throughout the carriage ride home, Athena was muttering about the fake incident while Frederick assured her that it meant nothing and that teenage boys did that. A lot. Annabeth tried to sleep, but all she could see under her eyelids was Percy with the arrow in his arm and blood squirting everywhere. She had trouble sleeping that night.

A week later, a carrier pigeon appeared with a letter from Percy. Many words were misspelled and the handwriting was _atrocious_, but Annabeth managed to decipher it into:

_Dear, Annabeth,_

_Pleae exus the mistaks. I am dislexick. _

Annabeth sighed. Here we go.

_I miss you with a burning passion that I fear will roast me alive if I never see you again. Sadly, I fear that will be the case, since after the fiasco that had nothing to do with either you or me, our parents will never see an end to this war. I'm going to find out who shot that arrow, and arrest them._

_Besides that, unless I have something that needs my attention, my thoughts are always turned to your beautiful grey eyes and blonde hair. My friends think I'm in a daze because of the injury, but really I'm constantly daydreaming about you. The injury stopped hurting three days ago. It didn't heal though. I'll be fine, though._

_I miss you. _

_Love, _

_Percy_

Annabeth sighed happily at the message. Piper tried to snatch it from her hands, but Annabeth kept it out of her reach.

"Why can't I see it? Who's it from?" Piper asked.

"No one important!" Annabeth complained. She then pushed it into her mattress.

"Why are you hiding it? Is it from a suitor?" Piper asked wiggling her eyebrows. Annabeth blushed red and shook her head.

"He can't be a suitor," Annabeth said.

Piper's smile dropped. "Is it Perseus?"

"Did you ever stop to consider the letter was blank?" Annabeth asked, trying to throw Piper off.

"No!" Piper sighed, mocking Annabeth's earlier, happy sigh. Annabeth scowled at her. "So, Perseus was writing to you? I don't suggest you write back. Your mom will be furious if she finds out," Piper said.

"Well, the carrier pigeon hasn't left yet," Annabeth said.

"Annabeth!" Piper warned. But it was too late. Annabeth had already sat down to write her letter.

Suddenly, they heard a bang at the drawbridge.

Another servant barged in the room. "Princess, Piper, come with me."

"What's going on?!" Annabeth asked.

"Apaisios's army is attacking!" he said. He led Annabeth and Piper to meet her parents. Annabeth felt upset that Poseidon's army was attacking, although she was surprised they hadn't attacked sooner.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked.

"To the secret staircase. We're only supposed to use it in case of emergency; it leads down to a basement where everyone can escape to the countryside if the castle is ever attacked," Malcom explained.

"Oops," Annabeth mumbled as they climbed down the spiral staircase, which she happened to use often.

Down in the secret bunker, almost everyone who occupied the castle was waiting.

Just waiting around for other people to protect her felt wrong to Annabeth. The army had begun to fight, but it was smaller than Apaisios's.

Suddenly, a warrior from their own army came down and warned them that the invaders were approaching. Annabeth was near the back of the group, and she felt a cold set of hands wrap around her—one around her waist and the other around her mouth so she wouldn't scream. She tried to, though as she watched her castle leave without her.

One of the three Apaisios warriors that occupied the room shut the iron gate tightly.

The king turned around. He saw Annabeth struggling against the man who held her down while another sneered at him through the bars and the soldier who had warned them that the others were coming fought another enemy soldier.

The one by the door took off his helmet, revealing curly brown hair, blue eyes, and an untrustworthy, elfish look. He made rude, childish faces towards the ones outside. The soldier form Athena's army soon was overpowered.

"If you ever want your daughter back," the warrior by the door said as he started to take a knife to the rope.

"Too bad, because you'll never get her!" the warrior holding Annabeth finished. Their voices were identical, and they laughed simultaneously

The warrior who had overpowered the soldier joined in.

"Kill her, Travis!" the one by the gate cheered. He moved back so none of the ones outside could reach him, especially not Athena.

"Connor," the soldier not holding Annabeth warned.

"Don't worry, Reyna. I wasn't going to kill her," Travis said.

"DARNED RIGHT!" Athena screeched, trying to lift up the gate. Connor, the one by the gate, held the rope tauntingly a foot from her arms.

"Not here, anyway," Travis said, obviously through laughter. Connor dropped the rope to the gate out of reach from the outside and moved to tie up Annabeth. In the thirty seconds it took to put the gag on, she uttered every curse word she could think of, twice. She bruised her knuckles trying to knock the lights out of her captors while they tied her up. They were trained for this though and they laughed loudly.

Finally, they had her unable to move her arms or legs. Travis hoisted her on his shoulder. "Careful, sweetheart. If you wiggle around like that I may drop you," he warned.

_That's the point, dumbass,_ Annabeth thought. She wiggled violently, and Travis "accidentally" dropped her on her head, which put her in a bit of a daze. Travis picked her up again in the same position.

Connor put his helmet back on and he and Travis moved up the staircase. Reyna opened the gate and then bolted to the staircase.

Everyone had gotten in, just as she had hoped, and then she slammed the door and tied a heavy-duty sting to it. She tied the sting to the banister as taut as she could get it without snapping. Hopefully that would hold for a while. She had heard cursing in the room as she assumed the rope to the iron gate had snapped.

"Good work, Connor!" Reyna said.

Connor and Travis both fake gasped in shock; Travis dropped Annabeth on her head again. "Wow, Reyna, I didn't you had it in you," Connor said.

"Shh…there may be soldiers hiding up here," Reyna said, ignoring the compliment.

But there were not. Travis tied Annabeth to the back of his horse. It was a bumpy ride all the way to the palace of Apaisios. King Poseidon told Connor and Travis to put her in the dungeon, and they didn't bother to untie her.

* * *

**YES! PLEASE, FALL OFF THE OH-MIGHTY ANTHILL-HANGER I HAVE PRESENTED FOR YOU! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm busy!**


	8. War Stories

**So sorry that I didn't post on Friday. On Thursday I got grounded, and my mom finally lifted the punishment. I knew I should have snuck on here Thursday afternoon when I was home alone! Oops. Anyway, presenting: WHATEVER I SHALL CHOOSE TO NAME THIS CHAPTER! (I don't name the chapters until I add them.)**

**Oh, I finally named both the kingdoms. **

**Poseidon's: Apaipios**

**Athena's: (Pes)Mataris**

**They both have hiliariously ironic Greek meanings, but I forgot what they were. I'm not sure if I spelled the second one correctly. It either has an _o _or an _e._ I think it's also ironic that Poseiodon's kingdom starts with an _a_, and Athena's is supposed to start with a _p._ IRONY!**

* * *

Percy tried to wiggle the fingers on his right hand. He sighed. Chiron was right; that stupid arrow had ripped through the tendons in his right arm, the ones that were responsible for finger movement.. He couldn't even make a fist!

He went back to hacking at the dummy with his left hand. Luckily, no one was around to see this. No way he'd make it into the army now.

Thinking of the army made him think about Annabeth. She was very beautiful, and even though his parents would throw a fit if they found out, he really liked her. He wondered if she had gotten his letter. Even if she had, was she able to read it? Percy's handwriting was dreadful before, and his left hand was quite worse.

Percy saw a bunch of horses riding in. _The army's back, _he thought. Oh, and today was the day he was supposed to join! But he wasn't ready! He had to train up his left arm first! Why hadn't he done it while he was still learning? Percy cursed to himself as he went to his room to avoid them.

Percy stared up at his ceiling in his room thinking about Annabeth. Suddenly, Grover barged in without so much as a knock.

"Finally, there you are!" he yelled.

"Were you looking for me?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, dude! Wasn't today the day you were going to join the army?" Grover asked.

Percy held up his hand and his limp fingers curled. "Can't really hold a sword, can I?"

"Can't you fight with your left hand?" Grover asked.

"Uh…" Percy thought for a lie.

"You didn't train both arms? What kind of idiot does that?" Grover demanded. Percy's face went red, from both anger and embarrassment.

"Anyway, guess where the army just was," Grover said.

"Here?" Percy guessed.

"No, before that!" Grover said.

"Mataris?" Percy asked, thinking of the kingdom they were fighting a war with.

"Yup! Guess who they took prisoner!" Grover said. He seemed really excited.

"A ton of people?" Percy asked.

"No, only one! Guess who!"

"One? Isn't that, like, _below_ their standards?" Percy asked.

"Usually…guess who they kidnapped!" Grover repeated.

"Who?" Percy asked, sick of guessing.

"_Their princess_."

"What?!" Percy asked, shooting to his feet.

Grover grinned. "I know right? It's great!"

Percy hid his horror-struck face behind a fake smile. "Really? The queen is gonna be sooooo pissed!"

"They're keeping her in the dungeon right now," Grover said.

Percy's smile faltered. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad news. He soon decided it was good news, because he could go down to talk to her. His smile returned; this time it was real.

"Wanna go down and make fun of her?" Grover asked.

"Uh…no," Percy replied nervously. He waved his arm. "I gotta practice," he lied, crossing to the door.

"I'll come with you," Grover said. Percy grimaced, knowing that Grover couldn't see his face.

Percy sighed, not wanting to seem like he _wasn't_ actually going to practice, which he wasn't. He had planned on sneaking down to see Annabeth. _That'll have to wait_, he thought. "Sure, man."

Down in the arena, the "twins" (they weren't really twins, but they looked and acted so similar everyone called them that anyway) and Reyna were recalling their tales to the rest of the army and anyone in the castle who wished to hear. They spotted Percy, bowed, and started their tale over for him. As if that were what he wanted.

"So, we were attacking, and they castle was strangely vacant! Then, Reyna noticed this soldier from Mataris sneaking off, so she sent Travis and me to follow him," Connor began.

"We went down this spiral staircase, and he didn't even notice us following him. It led down to this room where everyone in the castle was. I grabbed the princess before she could move, and no one noticed she was gone until Connor shut the gate," Travis recalled with a proud tone. Percy growled under his breath.

"I easily overpowered the soldier of their army and rendered him unconscious," Reyna said.

"And then we hightailed it out of there, tying up the princess and carrying her away!" Conner announced.

Travis beamed.

Someone voiced Percy's thoughts, although slightly less coldly: "Why are you grinning?"

"I am grinning, my friend, because I had her over my shoulder with her head facing behind me, and I dropped her on her head. Several times," Travis said. Percy, although outraged, snickered at Annabeth's misfortune.

_She won't find out,_ he thought, to justify his actions.

Percy realized the twins and Reyna were just going to repeat their tale, in many different ways, and after hearing it for the fourth time, he got up and left.

Grover followed him. "Dude, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm bored," Percy answered, only half the truth.

"But their tale is so interesting," Grover said. Percy's eye twitched.

"Quite, but I started to feel like I had heard it before," Percy said, chuckling at his joke.

"Fine. Do you wish to make fun of their princess?" _Their_ meaning the Matarians.

"Are you going?" he asked. Grover held up the key to the cell.

Percy swiped it from his hands and looked at it sitting in his palm as if it were the most interesting thing ever for a few seconds. "How'd you get this?!"

"It was sitting on the ground a little way away from her cell. She was staring at it trying to get it to float towards her with telekinesis," Grover chuckled. Percy dangled the key between his fingers (of his left hand). "So…? Whaddya say…?" Grover asked.

Percy stared at the key. So tantalizing… Wait a second, Tantalus was down in the dungeons! He tried to feed one of Poseidon's dukes his children. (Tantalus's children, not the Duke's.) What if he tried to eat Annabeth? Percy mentally slapped himself. Seriously, that was a dumb thought, even for him.

"Okay, let's go," Percy agreed.

On their way down to the dungeons, Poseidon stopped the pair.

"Percy, I need you to come with me," Poseidon said. "Grover, you may leave." When Poseidon turned his back, Grover pouted. Percy followed Poseidon, upset that he wouldn't be able to see Annabeth just yet.

"As soon as possible," he muttered.


	9. Dungeons

It was cold in the dungeons. Annabeth did have a cell mate who had been telling her horrifying stories about cannibalism earlier. Some guards came in and dragged him away though. Obviously, during their "nice" little visit, they completely ignored Annabeth.

One of the guards—a big burly guy who still sounded thirteen, had only one eye that would open and crooked teeth and seemed a little mentally retarded—didn't notice that he dropped the key to the cell outside her cell. Annabeth tried to wriggle towards the key, but she realized that it was useless because she would have no way to grab it once she got there.

After who-knows-how-long of staring at the key, Annabeth realized she almost missed her cell-mate. Almost.

Then, someone approached and picked up the key. _Yes! Salvation!_ Annabeth thought.

Or not. "Ha, ha! You want to be free don't you?!"

_Nah, I'm sitting here thinking I'm just the luckiest person on Earth because I'm rotting in a cell. I wish I could stay here forever! _Annabeth though sarcastically.

The guy held the key up to the lock. Annabeth nodded quickly to signify that that was what she wanted. He then pulled it away. _Come on!_

"I could free you now," the boy, Annabeth decided, said.

_Please!_ Annabeth silently begged.

"But I don't think I will," he continued.

Annabeth tried to send him a nasty message telepathically.

"Or maybe I will!"

_Make up your mind!_ Annabeth complained.

"Later," he finished. The boy then pocketed the key and walked off cackling. Annabeth tried to yell at him through the gag, but that only made him laugh harder.

Annabeth wriggled angrily against a wall, hurting herself more in the process. Sleep soon followed.

She saw Athena. Athena was…weeping?! Why?

Annabeth tried to run to her mother, but her legs wouldn't move. Annabeth tried, and found she couldn't move her body at all. She tried to call out to her mother, but her cries were muffled. Annabeth felt like she had an invisible gag in her mouth, one that was too tight and that was triggering her gag reflex.

"Oh, Annabeth!" Athena sobbed.

King Frederick came in the room, ignoring Annabeth. He put his arm around Athena as they stared down at something. It broke Annabeth's hear to see them like this. She tried to call out to them.

Suddenly, she felt the invisible gag remove itself.

"Mom, dad!" she cried. Her parents didn't hear her and something clasped itself around her mouth. Annabeth guessed it was a hand.

"Shh, Annabeth. Someone will hear you. We can't let them hear you," a male voice whispered. The hand removed itself. The voice lulled Annabeth to silence by whispering, "Shh… Shh… Shh…"

"That bastard. Pulling a stunt like this." Annabeth could hear the anger dripping from her mother's voice. Apparently she wasn't sad anymore.

"Athena," Frederick said sternly. "Annabeth was eighteen, legally an adult. You couldn't control her every move like that anymore."

_Was?!_ What?! At that _wonderful_ moment, Annabeth woke up sharply.

She looked around. Percy was holding a knife up to the ropes around her legs.

"What are—" Percy dropped the knife and clasped his hands over her mouth.

"Shh, someone will hear you, then we'll both be in trouble," he whispered. "I'm cutting your free." Annabeth nodded.

He removed his hand from her mouth and slipped the knife under the ropes once more. "Thank you, Percy," Annabeth whispered.

Percy tugged on the knife until it came free and the ropes loosened. "You're welcome."

Annabeth refrained from asking Percy's methods as he single-handedly pulled the ropes off her—literally, he was pulling the ropes over her legs and under her legs all with his left hand. Annabeth made it easier for him and spread out her legs. The ropes seemed to melt away from her legs.

"Seriously?" Percy asked.

Annabeth wriggled out of the ropes altogether. "And here you were being all gentlemanly, pulling them off yourself," she teased. She held up her hands; silently asking him to help her up.

Percy obliged. "I know!"

Annabeth took a couple of shaky steps. Then she joined Percy in leaning on the dirty wall. "What now?"

Percy's smile melted. "Ummm…"

Annabeth laughed. "Percy, did you not think this through?"

"Well, I've got a lot going on! I was supposed to go into the army today, being my 18th birthday—"

"Happy birthday," Annabeth interrupted.

"But I couldn't," Percy continued, ignoring Annabeth's statement.

"Why not?" Annabeth asked, frowning. A small part of her thought it was because of _her_, but then she thought, _Percy doesn't really love _that_ much. We just met!_ Percy bit his lip. "Why not," Annabeth repeated suspiciously.

"Reasons,"

"What reasons?"

Percy took a deep breath and held up his hands. Annabeth noticed the fingers on his right hand were limp and curled.

"Well?" she asked, not seeing the point.

Percy pulled up the sleeve of his right arm. Annabeth saw a big bandage. Percy pulled off the bandage revealing a large scar that hadn't quite healed yet. Annabeth scowled.

"Ew."

"Yeah, it's not pretty. I lost control to my finger muscles," Percy said. He put the bandage back on and pulled down his sleeve.

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah, well, I also had to take another prisoner to the slave markets," Percy continued.

"Slave markets?" Annabeth echoed.

"Yeah, after three weeks, you'll get put into the slave market if you don't die or get sent somewhere else first," Percy explained.

Annabeth knit her eyebrows in fear. "I need to leave here," she said, "as soon as possible."

"I promise I'll help you escape," Percy said. He put his hands on Annabeth's waist and pulled her closer. "But first…"

As they kissed, neither Percy nor Annabeth heard someone approach.

"What the…"

Annabeth pulled away and looked at the boy who had taunted her earlier. "YOU!"

Percy turned around and noticed the boy. Annabeth noticed Percy's cheeks grow very red. He cleared his throat. "Look, Grover, I can explain…"

The boy, Grover, stared at them, mainly at Percy. "Dude…Percy…this is treason, you realize," he said slowly.

Percy wrapped his arm around a confused Annabeth and pulled her in for a kiss. "No, it's love," he said.

Annabeth gasped before Percy kissed her.

"What…you…?" she asked, flustered.

"Love you? Yes," Percy said.

"Your girlfriend's out of the loop," Grover said.

"She doesn't get out much," Percy replied.

"I'm right here!" Annabeth complained quietly. "And I kind of wish I wasn't."

"Why?" Percy asked, stroking her hair.

"This is a prison cell," Annabeth reminded him, "which I got stuffed into."

"Then we'll send you home," Percy said.

Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder since he still had his arms around her. She closed her eyes and rested like that.

Grover began to speak: "Uh—"

"Shh!" Percy snapped. Annabeth laughed and pulled away.

"I guess it would be for the best if I left now," she said.

Percy pouted and nodded. "In the long-term," he muttered. Annabeth kissed him.

She stepped towards the door and glared daggers at Grover. "Not. One. Word," she said.

"What makes you think I'd tell anyone!?" Grover complained.

"You don't seem trustworthy," Annabeth said, not wavering from her glare.

"Why?" he asked.

"Have you not forgotten this afternoon?" she asked.

"I was just having some fun! I didn't know you had an affair with Percy!"

"A _secret_ affair," Annabeth corrected, "and it had better stay that way. Got it?" Grover nodded. "Swear it on the Styx," Annabeth said.

"I swear on the river Styx that I won't tell anyone about your affair," Grover said.

Annabeth smiled. "Okay. Keep your promise, and maybe we can be friends," she said.

Grover looked at Percy and wiggled his eyebrows. "Dude," Percy said.

Percy followed Annabeth out the door and led her to the stables. He pulled Buttercup from her stall. As Percy bridled and saddled her, she blinked as to complain, "It's the middle of the night!"

Annabeth looked at Buttercup's majestic head. "I thought you said she's frisky and likes to run away," she said nervously.

"Like horse, like rider," Percy said, handing her the reins.

Annabeth went to the side of Buttercup and scoffed. "That's not a saying," she muttered.

Percy went to the other side of Buttercup and stopped Annabeth from getting in the saddle. He stared into her eyes and then cleared his throat and turned to the throat. "I…uh…need to tighten the stirrups."

Annabeth dropped the reins (Buttercup was starting to turn that way.) and watched Percy pretend to fix the stirrup. She knew that he had wanted to kiss her good-bye but didn't have the courage.

"Red is your color," she said.

Percy cleared his throat, again. "I'm not wearing red."

Annabeth grabbed his hand and made him face her. She poked his cheek. "Think again." Then she kissed him.

After a minute, she pulled away and climbed into the saddle. She waited as Percy adjusted the stirrups for her and handed her the reins.

"Thank you, Percy, for everything," Annabeth said.

"You're welcome," Percy replied.

Annabeth walked Buttercup to the stable doors. She looked back at Percy: "Don't think this is the last time we'll see each other," she said. Percy, after dismissing his confusion, smiled.

As she rode away, he muttered, "Annabeth, you crazy loon, there's no way you'll be let back here."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, today's been a crazy day. First during lunch, my club was doing the ALS ice bucket challenge, and instead of getting soaked, I brought five bucks for a measly donation (I WILL BE AN ICE-BUCKET VIRGIN! I do stupid stuff, but I do it for me.), and I ended up not paying, so then later, the bus came half and hour late and my brother had gotten out of band, and since the bus wasn't there, I was able to pay his fare as well as my own, and then I got home, went to the store and bought some candy, and started eating some taffy. I somehow pulled out a tooth that was kind of wiggly, and then while I was walking to the bathroom to see if I was bleeding, I found a quarter in my sock. Life is strange. **


	10. Author's Note (I don't like this)

Okay, don't hate me.

"This isn't going to end well."

I have to put the story on hiatus. Why?

Aliens broke my computer.

"But, Kitty, aren't you an alien?"

What? No! Who told you that?

Anyway, I'll still be able to write. My computer's not that broken. (Autocorrect tried to make me say computer' snot)

I just can't get on the internet. And the nearest computer fixer is seventy miles away. uh-huh, not going to fix it anytime soon. Right now, I'm on my iPad, so unless you guys want a bunch of mistakes, I don't really want to write on my tablet.

I swear on the River Styx, as soon as I get my internet on the computer up-and-running, I will post as many chapters as possible. This really kills me, trust me.

(oh, and to PercyJackson1234, thank you!)


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